The present invention is particularly applicable but not necessarily restricted to the fabrication of automobile interior trim panels of the type employed to enhance the appearance and comfort of the passenger compartment of automobile vehicles. Of the various trim panels employed, the headliner overlying the undersurface of the steel roof panel has constituted a continuing problem in automobile design and manufacture. Typically, interior roof trim panels or headliners employed in modern passenger cars and trucks are formed with a compound curvature corresponding to that of the steel roof panel and are provided with a decorative coating or ply over the exposed face surface thereof to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the interior of the vehicle. Such headliner panels in addition to their aesthetic function, also serve as an insulator against sound and heat transmission to the interior of the vehicle body and to some degree, also perform a sefety function as a result of their impact absorption properties.
In an attempt to meet the myriad of requirements specified for headliners employed in modern automotive vehicles, a variety of materials and processing techniques have been used or proposed for use which concurrently provide for a low-cost structure which is of simple and versatile installation. None of the headliner constructions of the types heretofore known have been entirely satisfactory either because of their relatively high cost, difficulty of fabrication, problems associated with their installation, or lack of adequate flexibility and versatility of use. For example, the inaccessibility of the passenger compartment has in many instances necessitated the use of sectionalized headliner constructions which upon installation require the use of trim moldings to cover the abutting edges of adjoining headliner sections. Alternatively, cloth or plastic film headliners have been used which can be readily passed through a door or window opening during installation and which include a plurality of lifting wires or bows which extend transversely of the roof panel and are joined at longitudinally spaced intervals to the side edges of the automobile body. Such headliners, however, require a relatively large amount of labor to install and are costly for this and other reasons.
Integral one-piece panels which are sufficiently flexible to enable deformation thereof in order to transfer them to within the vehicle passenger compartment during installation have, in many instances, been unsatisfactory in view of the supplemental supporting structure required to maintain such headliners in appropriate pisition, as well as relatively high fabrication and installation costs of such trim panels.
The present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages associated with interior trim panels and processes for making such panels of the types heretofore known by providing a simple, economical, durable, attractive and versatile laminar panel which is sufficiently resilient to sustain relatively drastic deformations during storage, handling and installation without fracture or damage thereto, and which moreover provides flexibility in the styling consistent with any particular interior styling theme.